


Keiran

by genericfanatic



Series: Voltron Trek [9]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Ethical Dilemma, M/M, based on star trek episode, dubious character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 14:10:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10788300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genericfanatic/pseuds/genericfanatic
Summary: While on a mission, Keith and Coran get combined into one person. Now, Keiran has to figure out who he is in relation to Voltron and his crewmates, as well as figure out who he is now.And what he'll do when Voltron finds a way to separate him again.Based on Star Trek: Voyager episode: Tuvix





	Keiran

**Author's Note:**

> Okay dokay kids, this was the hardest of these fics to write, which might play into why it was the LONGEST. 
> 
> This was the first fic that I'm writing based on a suggestion, though when The Black Sluggard (Hazgarn) suggested a Tuvix episode, they had recommended Hunk and Keith. And I thought about it, for a long time. I definitely wanted one person in the combination to be either Keith or Lance to reflect the Neelix/Kes relationship in the original episode. I considered Lance and Coran, Hunk and Keith, Keith and Allura (that one didn't get far) Lance and Shiro....never pidge, oddly enough...but I digress. 
> 
> I even considered changing things WHILE I was writing the episode. When it comes down to it, though, I chose Keith and Coran firstly) they have disparate personalities that were fun (if tiresome at times) to play with. Secondly) not only would Lance be strongly affected, but Allura would as well, and I wanted to pull on that relationship to reflect Captain Janeway's loss of Tuvok. Thirdly, and this is the main reason--I wanted them to still be able to form Voltron when there was a combination. I just...this episode centers so heavily on ethical, internal issues, I didn't want to add an external element to it. 
> 
> There's another thing I changed that I'll discuss in the ending notes. 
> 
> Anyway. This is based on the Star Trek Voyager episode "Tuvix," like I said (the first in this series not to be named after the episode it parodies)
> 
> It references some events that happened in Blood Fever as well as carrying over some continuity things, like Keith is half Galra, Keith and Lance are in a relationship, Pidge is nonbinary...
> 
> Also, I hope its clear, but this is diverting from season 2 of Voltron as it was made before season 2 premiered. I may use some elements from it, like including some of the alien species or something, but its kinda slowly becoming more and more its own thing.
> 
> Edit: OH MY GOD I FORGOT TO MENTION, I've fancast a voice actor for the part, John Kim from The Librarians, who is of Korean descent (like Steven Yeun, the voice of Keith) and Australian and...okay, Coran's VA is from New Zealand, but I had to make sacrifices somewhere. Anyway, to give you an idea of what he sounds like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6J8i7KXkqs

“I don’t like this,” Keith said, his eyes darting out in every direction. 

“Cheer up, Keith,” Coran said, going over the equipment with a scanner, “We’ve gone over the area 3 times already. The Red lion is just outside if we need her. There are absolutely no life signs on the planet, except for us.”

Keith screwed up his face, “That’s why I don’t like it,” he said, pacing the perimeter of the room, “Why would the Vidigons just abandon a perfectly good facility?”

“Could be any number of things,” Coran said, examining a number of sharp instruments one by one, and then tossing them aside, “A Galra attack, a natural disaster. Maybe they experimented on some animals and created a giant tougla beast that ran them all out. That’d get me to evacuate in a hurry!” 

That did not reassure Keith. “Maybe…”

“We should be glad they did evacuate,” Coran said, “After our last encounter with the Vidigons, I don’t want a repeat.”

Keith grumbled in agreement. Coran hadn’t even be there. But Keith had, and it was not a pleasant experience in the least. The Vidigons might have been enemies of the Galra, but they were no allies of Voltron, not after they had captured Keith and Shiro, forcing Shiro to work their mines and mutilating Keith. So, being in a Vidigon lab again, even for the purposes of salvage, put Keith a bit on edge. 

It would hopefully be worth it. For all their lack of morals, the Vidigons were well practiced in medicine. Coran was hoping to use some of their equipment to help the alliance. “Look at these instruments,” Coran said, “I think its some sort of device to attract a virus to one specific area of the body so that it can be removed! Astonishing, I’d love to reverse engineer this to see how it works.” 

Keith only half-listened to Coran’s rambling. He frowned and looked down at a sealed door with a wheel, obviously meant to open or close it. “Quiznak!” Coran shouted behind him. Keith jumped and spun, brandishing his sword. “Look at this! It’s a database of some kind. Oh, this will go lightyears into our understanding of the technology.”

Keith took a deep sigh, repeating Patience Yields Focus to himself until he no longer wanted to strangle Coran for scaring him like that. He turned back to the door. It intrigued him for some reason. He pressed himself against the wall and tried to peak in to the room behind. “Hey Coran,” Keith said, “What is this?”

Coran half turned to him. “Oh, that’s probably a de-contamination room of some kind.”

Keith frowned at it, his hand on the wheel. Only one way to find out…

“Hmm,” Coran said, “It seems they abandoned the facility in the middle of an experiment…something to do with gene sequencing…”

The door opened with a clunk. A colorless gas seeped out of the room, and Keith automatically lowered his visor before he could breath any of it in. He squinted inside, trying to see any details that could give him a hint. 

The first warning sign should have been the number of scratches on the inside of the door. The door was made of a thick metal, but it had been worked so thoroughly, it was practically cracked to the other side. 

The second warning sign was the vague movement of something large and dark through the fog, and that was enough for Keith. He quickly attempted to  
shut the door again, but something grabbed his ankle and pulled him into the room, screaming as he went. 

“Keith!” Coran shouted running to the small room. 

By the time he stepped beyond the threshold, enough of the gas had cleared for him to get a good picture. “Great Quiznak,” he said, “It WAS a giant Tougla beast!” 

The Tougla beast in question had one large tentacle wrapped around Keith’s middle, swinging him around and banging his head on various surfaces. His helmet and shield protected him as much as they could, but his visor mask had broken. Keith screamed, trying to stab the tentacle with his free arm and not get sick at the same time. 

“Curious,” Coran said, “It looks like they combined it with some form of cephalopod…”

“Coran!” Keith screamed, “Less analyzing! Just tell me how to kill it!” 

“Right!” Coran said, digging through his mental log of information, “Well, the best way to kill a tougla is to strangle it around its middle, just above its tentacles and bang it against something hard to daze it.”

Keith looked down at the middle in question, easily the size of 4 decent sized tree trunks. “Yeah, I’m going to need a plan B,” He said as he smacked into another wall.

Coran looked left and right, trying to figure out what to do. “Hey! Tougla! Look what I’ve got!” He said, grabbing at things with no idea about what he’s got. “Its ahh….Potaby Nuts!” Thank quiznak the scientists had left those behind with them too. Coran lifted them in the air, letting the Tougla get a nice long look. 

The Tougla squirmed and pushed itself out of the door, looming over Coran, while still holding onto Keith. Coran threw the nuts down the hallway and grabbed Keith’s hand. As the Tougla ran to catch the nuts, Keith was stretched, holding onto Coran with all his might even as the Tougla tried to keep hold. 

With the tentacle held straight out, it was easier for Keith to get an angle, and he sliced straight through what was holding him. The Tougla made a high pitched scream of agony and turned angrily on the two of them. 

Rushing forward, Keith and Coran closed themselves into the room the Tougla had once been captured in. The monster banged against the door, trying to get through, but Keith and Coran held firm.

Eventually, the beast got bored, deciding there was easier prey to be had, and left. Only then, it seemed, did Keith and Coran take their breaths of relief. 

Keith realized it first. “Coran…” he said, “Does the air in here…taste different?”

“Yes,” Coran said, “Its feeling different too…like its clinging to the back of my neck.” Coran reached back and scratched, but could never satisfy the itch. 

Keith tried to put his visor mask back up, but only then realized it had broken. They both looked at their feet, and saw the swirl of gas slowly starting to encompass the room once again. 

Coran tried the first obvious move, opening the door, but “It’s locked!” Even with both their strength combined, the door wouldn’t budge. The gas was up to their thighs, and breathing was beginning to itch their throats. 

Keith went with the next obvious solution, pulling out his sword and hacking away at the door. If he had endless time, he might have made a chip in it, but it was going too slowly.

Coran, meanwhile, attempted to find where the gas was coming from. “There must be a vent in the floor somewhere,” he said, “If I can find it, maybe I can shut it off.”

“Coran,” Keith called, coughing his lungs out as the gas rose up to their waists, “What is this stuff? What-“ he coughed again, “what’s it doing to us?”

Coran looked at him with old worried eyes. “I don’t know.”

And that, more than a raging alien monster, more than the threat of Vidigons, scared the living crap out of Keith. 

 

“Have Coran and Keith checked in yet?” Lance asked. 

Allura sighed, “No, Lance,” She said, “As I’ve said every 5 dobashes, you will be the first to know when they check in.”

Lance huffed slightly and left to go occupy his mind. 

As soon as the door closed on him, both Allura and Shiro collapsed into giggles, “Aw, we shouldn’t be so hard on him,” Shiro said, “He’s just worried about his boyfriend.”

“Oh I know,” Allura said, “It’s just getting rather ridiculous at this point. They’ve been gone less than two quintents and he’s already restless.”

“Remember back when they couldn’t stand each other?”

Allura sighed, “The good old days.” Shiro giggled again. 

A lit blinked on the control. Allura pushed the button, and an image of the red lion came up on the viewscreen. “I suppose I should go get Lance,” Shiro said, “Let him know they’re on their way.”

Allura didn’t respond. She was frowning, and that was enough to put Shiro on alert. “Something’s wrong…” she said, “Red’s upset…”

Shiro launched himself into his own control chair, pulling up communications, “Keith, Coran, come in. Keith!”

“I’m reading lifesigns aboard,” Allura said, “One life sign…”

The question hung in the air of ‘which one?’ Coran or Keith…

“Paladins,” Shiro called over the intercom, “Report to the control room now.” 

Lance, being the closest, was the first through the doors, quickly followed by Hunk and Pidge, “What happened? Are they okay?” he demanded.

“The red lion seems to be on automatic pilot,” Allura said, “This is Lion Castle to the Red Lion, can anyone hear me?”

There was a grunting noise that came from the lion. “Did they get attacked by the Vidigons?”

“There’s no sign of Vidigon ships in the area,” Shiro said, “No Galra or anyone else, for that matter.” 

Lance was nearly pulling his hair, “Well, what happened to them?”

“Lets get to the lions hangar, we’ll find out soon.” Allura said. No sooner had she finished her sentence had Lance launched himself, running down to the hangar. 

They all watched with their heart in their throats as the Red Lion lowered herself down, her eyes stoic and juxtaposed to the anxiousness of everyone around. 

Instead of assuming her usual platform, she crouched directly in front of the gathered crew, opening her mouth to reveal a huddled person resting on the ramp.

The crew rushed forward, pulling him up and…paused, confused. 

The man had black hair…but a mustache on his face. His armor was the traditional red, but the undersuit more resembled Coran’s typical outfit. As the crew stared at him, they could pick out more features from either Coran or Keith—Keith’s eye shape, but Coran’s Altean markings; Keith’s nose and chin, but Coran’s ears. 

“What in the universe…” Hunk muttered as they stared at the man before them. 

Shiro was the first to gain sense and leaned in, checking his pulse. “He’s alive,” Shiro said, “And doesn’t seem injured. We should take him to a medical pod to do a scan.”

Allura nodded recovering herself “R-right.” Without breaking a sweat, she lifted the man into her arms. He made a small noise, but did not wake up. 

“Who is he?” Pidge asked, “I mean I know he’s…like…but I don’t know how…who IS he? What happened to him?”

“We’ll figure that all out later,” Shiro said, stalking behind Allura, “But Red seems to trust him, so that will have to be enough for now.” 

 

“Well, it looks like he has DNA for both Keith AND Coran,” Allura said, looking over the scans of the man inside. “He’s proportionately one half Altean, one quarter Galran, one quarter Human.” 

“But that doesn’t make sense!” Lance said, “How can he be both? Or is he just a creation of the two? Are the real ones out there, or—“

“We don’t know, Lance.” Shiro said, putting a calming hand on Lance’s shoulder. It didn’t really make Lance feel better, but he appreciated the effort. 

“He doesn’t seem to be injured,” Allura said, “He was just unconscious from a huge amount of stress put upon his body. We can assume that was…whatever it was that made him this.”

“Can we wake him?” Shiro asked. Allura nodded. 

They all braced themselves as she pressed the button and the pod released the man. He stumbled forward, Allura catching his arm. He blinked his eyes open. Coran’s black-purple eyes were rimmed with Keith’s blue-violet. He looked around at them all, each of them wary of him, waiting to see what they’d say. “Uhh…” Finally came out of his mouth, “Are you all alright?” 

They blinked. His voice was so different than either Keith’s or Coran’s, though had more of a tinge of Coran’s accent. Pidge was surprisingly the first pulled out of the trance, “Um, excuse me, if you don’t mind,” they said, “Who are you?”

The man screwed up his face in a frown. “What do you mean, Pidge? It’s me, Keith. Your buddy? I—“ he blinked, cutting himself off. “No…I’m Coran, I—“ He swallowed, “I’m beginning to understand your confusion.”

Shiro took his arm and led him down the hallway. “C’mon, lets get you some food. We’ll talk on the way.”

Shaky on his feet, the man followed him, clinging onto his Galra arm. “Thanks, Shiro.” Shiro’s calm demeanor seemed at odds with this apparent stranger addressing him so familiarly. As they walked through the shiny walls, he caught a glimpse of his odd reflection. “What the…what the galloping quiznak happened to me?”

“We were rather hoping you could tell us,” Allura said, standing on the man’s other side, “What do you remember?”

The man thought hard. “I…we, I suppose…got trapped in some sort of Vidigon experimental…thing. We lost sight of each other in this gas that filled the room. My—our skin was burning. It felt like I was being torn apart cell by cell, and…” He took a deep breath. “I passed out. Last thing I saw was the Red lion breaking into the building.”

Allura sighed, “Well…that matches up with what we know so far.”

“So, you remember being combined?” Shiro asked, settling him into a chair in the dining room. Hunk rushed over to get a plate of food. 

“I…suppose so.” He said, “I didn’t realize that’s what was happening.”

“Do you feel like two different people?” Pidge asked, always the scientist, “Like two bodies trapped in one? Is there something you say that’s more Coran or more Keith.”

He bit his inner cheek, “I don’t think so. I feel like one person, just…with two sets of memories. It takes me a tick to realize which is Keith’s and which is Coran’s, I suppose.” He looks at his own hands. “It’s fascinating really…and frightening…I knew the Vidigon’s had the ability to separate a genome, like they did for Keith’s…I had no idea they could combine two.”

“Why would the Vidigons even want to do something like this anyway?” Hunk asked, sliding the plate of food over to the strange man.

“If I were to guess,” Pidge said, pushing up their glasses, “I’d say it was some sort of advanced grafting technology. Combining a healthy body with a sick one…There are similar things with bone grafting and other organs on Earth. The merging of their consciousness, or rather brains, might have been incidental.”

“Unless it’s a trap.”

All eyes in the room turned to Lance, who was sitting as far from the man as he could. “Lance…” Allura said, “What do you—“

“I mean, what if he’s not really Coran or Keith, just an imposter created by the Vidigon’s to make us believe it for their…their evil purposes!” He said, crossing his arms. 

The man stared at Lance, hurt unmistakable on his face, but Lance wasn’t looking at him. “Lance,” Shiro said, “That seems incredibly unlikely. For one, it’s far too complex.”

“Then maybe it’s something else!” Lance said, “All I’m saying is maybe we’re being a bit too quick to believe…” Lance motioned at the man, “…him.”

“The Red lion saved me,” the man snarled at Lance, full of Keith’s temper, “That should be enough proof for you!” 

“Maybe the Vidigons tricked her somehow!”

“How?”

“I said somehow!” his voice raising to a shout. 

“Both of you, quiet!” Allura said. “The Red Lion recognizes quintessence, which by its nature is impossible to fake. This is, as hard as it might be to believe, Keith.” She also motioned to the man. 

“Not THAT hard to believe,” Pidge said, “He started fighting with Lance 5 minutes in.”

Hunk snorted loudly. Shiro tried to muffle his own laughter, and even the strange man seemed amused. “Pidge, stop it,” Shiro tried to keep the conversation serious. 

Lance handled that for him, as he didn’t find anything about the situation funny at all, and stalked out of the room, leaving the rest of them in cold silence. The strange man stared longingly at the door Lance disappeared through. Shiro put a hand on his shoulder. “Give him some time. This is a lot to process.”

The man nodded. “You’re telling me.” Shiro smirked. 

Allura sighed, “We should take the ship over to the planet you were investigating. See if we can’t find anything that will reverse this.”

The man nodded, “A wise decision, Allura.”

“In the meantime,” Pidge said, sitting on the table, “We can’t just keep calling you ‘strange man’ or ‘combination Keith and Coran.’ We need to call you something.”

The man blinked in surprise, “Uh…okay?” He said, “What did you have in mind?”

“How about…Coreith?” Pidge said. 

The man opened his mouth to answer, but Hunk shot them both down, “Nah, you need something that rolls off the tongue. What about…Keiran.” 

The man thought about it, rolling the name in his head. “Keiran…I like it.”

Pidge smiled, “Good to meet you, Keiran.”

 

Lance wasn’t usually the one who went to fight out his anger. That was heavily Keith’s department, sometimes Shiro’s. 

It was mostly due to the fact Lance got something entirely different out of combat than some of the others did. There wasn’t usually the rush of adrenaline, the forceful attempt to externalize all his emotions. No, standing in the middle of the room, Lance went as far as to close his eyes, waiting for the targets to be released. 

Shooting his rifle forced him to remain calm, the anger inside of him turning inwards instead, vibrating just under his skin like a livewire. In quick succession, he took down the targets the training room offered, allowing the focus on the goal to clear his mind. Aim, fire, repeat. 

“You’re tensing up again.” Lance spun away from his target to aim at the door instead. 

Hunk raised his arms in surrender, “Not that badly!” 

Lance sighed, lowering his weapon. “End training sequence,” He said, and the targets went away. He retracted his gun into handle form, “What do you want?”

“Just checking up on you,” Hunk said, “You were kinda…obviously upset.”

Lance shrugged, beginning to strip out of his armor. “Well, you would be too if your boyfriend and mentor figure got Steven Universe’d.”

Hunk leaned up against a wall, “I suppose I would.”

Lance grunted in frustration, “It’s not fair. It’s like…I miss him…but he’s here…I think.”

“No one’s expecting you to just suddenly be okay with this,” Hunk said, “But imagine how it is for Keiran.”

“Keiran?”

“That’s what we’re calling him for now,” Hunk said. Lance tried very hard not to scoff. “He doesn’t know who he is. Keith and Coran aren’t exactly two peas in a pod. I can’t even begin to imagine what the inside of his head is like right now.” 

Lance huffs as he changes into his day clothes. “I know…I know its all probably hardest for him…” he said, “But this whole thing just…it feels wrong, you know, and…” He tried very hard to swallow his tears, but Hunk knew that expression well enough, “I miss him…” 

Hunk quickly encompasses him in a hug, “I know, buddy,” he said, “I know.” Eased by Hunk’s presence and comforting words, Lance allowed a tear to drop.

Hunk holds him for a solid minute, lending Lance his strength, until there came a knock on the door. 

Lance looks up to see Keiran at the threshold. He felt the tension pulling his muscles again, allowing Hunk to realize who it was before looking. “Um, pardon me,” Keiran said, “Could I have a moment?”

There wasn’t really a question as to with whom the moment was needed, so Hunk turned to Lance to confirm it was really alright. Lance nodded and Hunk backed out of the room. 

The both of them were silent for a long moment, staring at their shoes, their hands in their pockets. Keiran broke first, saying “I’m sorry.” He swallowed, “This has all…I can only imagine what all this is like for you. I have Keith’s memories, so I know if the situation were reversed and Keith had lost you—“

“I haven’t lost him,” Lance snapped, perhaps a touch too sharply, “I’m going to get him back.”

Keiran cleared his throat awkwardly, “Of course, I didn’t mean…well, just…all I mean to say is I think Keith might have handled the situation much worse.” 

Lance wanted to find that funny, he really did. But he was having trouble seeing the humor in anything with Keiran standing so close to him. “Probably,” was all he said. 

They stood once again in silence. Keiran cleared his throat. “Well, I just—I know Keith missed you while he was away too. Coran too, really, he’s quite fond of you. And I just…I wanted to say, I care just as much about Voltron and the crew here as they did, I have no ill-intention at all. I’d even like to help, if you’d allow me.”

“How?” Lance asked.

Keiran took a deep breath, “However I can, I suppose. And I know…I know you’re missing them both. And I’m sure Hunk can do a better job comforting you than I can, but, if you need to talk…I’m here.” He nodded, indicating he was done speaking. 

“I…appreciate it, Keiran…” Lance said, “I really do, I just…you—“

“I remind you of them,” Keiran finished for him. Lance nodded. “I really am sorry about all of this. About…keeping them from you.”

Lance clenches his jaw, looking back at the ground, unable to look Keiran in the eye any longer. Without realizing it he sniffled, trying to hold back tears.

“Hey,” Keiran says softly, stepping forward to hold Lance’s face. 

Lance backs away from him like he’d been burned. “I—sorry,” Keiran said, quickly pulling his hand back, “Sorry, that was instinct, I—“ He swallowed as Lance stared at him in horror. “Sorry…”

He was saved as Allura came over the speakers. “Paladins, we’ve arrived at the planet.” Keiran shook his head out of his reverie, and both of them walked up to the control deck in silence. 

“I’m sending in R2 instead of a person so we don’t have any more mishaps,” Pidge explained as they entered, a green disk shot out of the castle. 

Rover 2, the little robot that usually hovered over Pidge’s shoulder, hovered over the building and projecting an image back to the castle. The viewscreen brought up the image of the Vidigon facility. A giant chunk had been taken out of the top. “Red really did a number on it,” Hunk said. Keiran nodded. 

“Going down into the facility…” Pidge said, as the robot lowered. 

Keiran leaned forward, “That’s the chamber I was—Keith and Coran were trapped in,” he said, looking at the smoking remains of the little room. “That gas needs to be shut off before it infects the atmosphere.”

Pidge nodded, R2 extending a tool as it lowered down, shutting off the valve Keith and Coran couldn’t find. “Well, that’s one problem solved,” Pidge said. 

The camera turned, and they all jumped back at the sight of a giant purple squid-like creature. “That’s the tougla beast,” Keiran said, “It must have been the testing subject for the experiment. It shouldn’t be able to smell the robot, though.” 

Indeed, the Tougla looked at R2 curiously, but seemed to decide it wasn’t food or interesting enough to play with, and scuttled off. Pidge breathed a sigh of relief. They rather liked their little robot. 

The robot extended another tool and picked up where Coran had left off with his download. The information scrolled on a different screen before Pidge. “Mkay…here’s some of the info about the experiments they were running here. Its all in Vidigonian….Keiran, do you understand it?”

Keiran stepped forward, reading. “Some…unfortunately my medical knowledge is not up to par with the Vidigons. From what I can tell, it’s describing a chemical compound, most likely the gas…but I don’t—“

He was interrupted by alarms. Pidge did a quick press of the buttons, and switched the viewscreen to the small fleet of Galra ships headed their way.

“Paladins!” Allura said, “To your lions!” Without question, the five others in the room ran to their respective elevators. “Keiran, what are you doing?” She asked, stopping him in his tracks. 

“I—“ Keiran turned to her, standing in front of Red’s elevator, “Well, I mean, I was going to—you know…pilot my lion.”

“Keith’s lion,” Allura corrected, “Do you think she’ll let you?”

“Only one way to find out,” Keiran said, jumping in.

Allura grumbled, activating her comm unit to talk to him, “Keiran, you might have Keith’s memories, but you yourself have never flown a lion before, and Red is very temperamental. Stay here with me.”

Keiran frowned, “But we need Voltron—“

“Keiran, stay in the castle,” Shiro’s voice came over the comm, “This isn’t the time to be figuring out your abilities. We’ll just have to handle this threat with 4 lions right now.” 

“I can pilot Red, I know I can.”

“Just because you have Keith’s memories doesn’t mean you can just jump into a lion.” Allura said. 

“I’ll show you,” Keiran said, “Red saved my life, she knows who I am.”

“Keiran, you aren’t Keith.”

“I know I’m not!” He shouted at Allura, “But I am the Red Paladin. I am sworn to help defend the universe, and I cannot turn aside! I—“

Keiran’s shuttle paused. It was supposed to carry him all the way through into the lion, but it had stopped. “Red?” Keiran asked. “Red, come on, it’s me.” 

He climbed out of the shuttle, standing at the base of the lion’s feet. He could feel the presence of the lion in the back of his mind, just as he—just as Keith felt when he went to find the lion, but Red wasn’t speaking to him. She felt…uneasy. “Come on, Red,” Keiran said, knocking on her paws. “I need you now. Come on.” 

Red remained statuesque. Keiran’s heart dropped just as much as when Lance turned away from him. “Keiran,” Allura said over the comm, “Come back to the control room.”

He heard the sounds of battle over the comm, listening to Black, Yellow, Green, and Blue fight. Keiran stood frozen in Red’s hangar, looking up into Red’s seemingly unfeeling eyes. “I have to prove myself, don’t I?” He asked Red. Red didn’t respond. 

Taking that as all the proof he needed, Keiran ran to the pod bay and activated one. “Keiran! What are you doing?!” Allura shouted as the pod launched.

“Fighting Galra,” Keiran responded calmly, “That’s what I’m supposed to do, aren’t I?” Keith always acted on instinct, Keiran thought. So that’s what he had to do. Putting thrusters on full he charged down one of the ships, firing at it. 

That was, until a Galra ship descended on him. “AAAAAAAAAUUUUGH” He said, piloting the ship out of the way as fast he could, “Mayday! Help! I could use some help here!” 

The blue lion came out of nowhere, slashing the ship out of the way with his jawblade. The lion turned on the pod, and he could practically see Lance inside of it as he said, “Go back to the ship!” 

Keiran leaned back, not a wise thing to do in the middle of a battle. Red had not come to his rescue. Honestly that might have been because he wasn’t that impressive. He had Keith’s memories, why was acting like Keith so difficult for him? 

Allura’s words from earlier echoed in his head, “You’re not Keith.” She was right: he wasn’t. He wasn’t Coran either. He needed to do something different than them both. 

No sooner had he weathered a blast from a Galra ship that the idea struck him. He turned on thrusters and flew his ship right in the center of a number of Galra ships. “Keiran!” Pidge cried out, “Get out of there!”

Come on, he thought to himself, Nice tasty pod, just waiting to be destroyed…

He got his wish as one of the ships skimmed a blast off the top of his pod. Keiran instantly shut down all of his systems, relying on his (fixed) armor to keep him alive. 

“KEITH”

“CORAN”

He heard Lance and Allura shout over the comm signal. The blue lion tried to fight its way through the ships to no avail. 

Come on…Keiran thought, Come on, come on, Thinking the ship completely disabled, the Galra ships flew past it, paying it no mind as they tried to attack the oncoming Blue Lion. 

The moment their metaphorical back was turned, Keiran fired the ship back up, giving the ships everything his little pod had to give. If he screamed while doing so, well, that was his business. 

Two smaller ships went down before the Galra had time to react. Once they caught on, they began firing at the small pod once again, but now Keiran could just fall back on Keith’s piloting skills and Coran’s military experience. 

Of course, then he got hit again. 

“Keiran,” Shiro said over the comms, “I don’t think the ‘shutting your power down trick’ is going to work twice.”

“Uhh,” Keiran said, trying to regain control of navigation, “Not a trick this time Shiro,” The hull fractured and air from within the ship blew out. Keiran held onto the controls as the breach grew wider, the ship tearing apart. 

Just as the ship gave out and Keiran was forced to let go, he was swallowed up by a lions mouth. 

He sighed, relieved, instantly recognizing the purr of Red in the back of his head. “Is being flung into space like a requirement for you, or something?” Keiran asked the lion. He could have sworn the lion chuckled. 

“Keiran! Are you okay?” Allura asked.

“Yeah,” He responded, “Who’s ready to form Voltron?”

“Can we do that?” Hunk asked.

Shiro sighed, “One way to find out,” and he started the sequence.

Gear by gear the 5 lions merged into 1, the most powerful weapon in the universe, Voltron.

“Whoa,” Hunk says, “This feels…different. Does it feel different to you guys?”

“New quintessence, new Voltron I guess,” Pidge says. 

“Sword,” Shiro said. There was an awkward pause as nothing happened, “Keiran that’s you.”

“What?” Keiran said, “Oh! Oh, right.” Keiran put his bayard where he needed to, activating Voltron’s sword. He was a bit shakier, a bit more hesitant than Keith, but he got the job done. 

Voltron slashed and stabbed the oncoming ships, but in the face of Voltron the Galra scattered. “It’s working!” Keiran said, proud of himself, “They’re retreating!”

“No, they’re not,” Allura’s voice came through, “Look, they’re heading for the planet!” 

The paladins all switched their scanners. Not only was there a small swarm of the ships heading for the planet, but they were going directly for the Vidigon facility. “If they destroy it,” Pidge said, “We’ll lose all information we have on how to get Keith and Coran back.”

“Lance, Hunk,” Shiro called, “Propel us in there, we have to stop those ships!”

“On it!” Hunk and Lance said back, firing their jets to intercept. 

If it was one large ship, they could have taken it down easily. As it was, there were only so many Voltron could destroy, before…

“NO!” Lance shouted as they all watched the laser descend to the planet. Unable to do anything, Voltron simply watched as the Vidigon facility exploded in a fiery blaze. 

Things ended quickly after that. As they had apparently fulfilled their mission, the Galra ships scattered in all directions, retreating for real this time, and leaving only the wreckage from their destroyed ships behind. “What do we do?” Hunk asked over the comm, “I mean, like, what do we DO?”

“Princess?” Shiro asked, a similar desperation in his voice no matter how much he tried to suppress it. 

There were several moments of silence. Finally, Allura said, “Return to the ship, all of you.” 

“Allura—“

“That’s an order, Lance,” Allura said. With a heavy heart, Voltron turned away. 

 

Back in the control room, Lance paced as the rest of the team sat down. “We have to pursue other leads,” He said, “Maybe if we went to the Vidigons…begged them to help—“

“No,” Shiro interjected, “The Vidigons have made it clear that they’ll enslave anyone who comes to them for help or assistance. Or worse.”

Lance kept pacing, “Okay, so, we fight them,” he said, “force them to reverse this.”

“We can’t do that, Lance,” Allura said, her face strained, “Voltron is the defender of the universe. We can’t go around bullying people to do what we want, even IF we knew it would work.”

Lance turned on her, “Well, what’s YOUR plan, then?” He snarled at her, and she flinched, “We do nothing? We just…let them die?”

“Lance,” Shiro said, in his best admonishing voice, “Calm—“

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Lance shouted back.

“They’re not dead,” Keiran said absentmindedly rubbing his hands together. Lance turned his anger on him, “They’re…I’m…it’s more complicated than that…”

“It isn’t,” Lance said, “You’re not them. You seem like a decent guy, but you’re not THEM. THEY are not here, and if they never come back that means they’re dead.”

“But we still have a Red Paladin,” Pidge finally piped up. Everyone turned to them. “Look, I miss Keith and Coran, I do. But…we still have all 5 paladins. We still have Voltron. That means our mission has to come first: We have to find a way to defeat the Galra empire. It’s what Keith would want.”

“How do you know what he would want?” Lance snarled at them. 

Pidge sighed, looking up at him over their glasses, “I don’t,” they say, “But he does.”

Pidge nodded over to Keiran, who instantly felt uncomfortable as the eyes of everyone landed on him. He wanted to say ‘lets go burn down the Vidigons’ because that’s what Lance wanted him to say. Lance wanted him to fight for Keith and Coran. 

But he knew the answer. “Keith and Coran…would want to keep fighting the Galra.”

Lance opened his mouth to yell again, but Hunk clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, buddy,” He half dragged Lance away just as tears formed in the corner of Lance’s eyes. 

“Well, I guess…” Shiro said turning to Keiran, “Welcome to team Voltron,” 

 

“Ah, Quiznak!” 

Allura followed the sounds and smells that woke her up all the way down to the kitchen. “Co—Keiran?” She asked rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. 

Keiran turned around, pausing from his beating of whatever monstrosity was on the kitchen counters. “Allura! What are you doing up?” 

She yawned, “I smelled something. What are you making?”

Keiran sighed and looked down at the orange goopy mess. “…Breakfast.” She raised her eyebrows at the sight, “I thought, now that I have something a little more similar to human tastebuds, I could use it to adjust some of Coran’s recipes. Of course, the problem I forgot about is that Keith is a terrible cook too.”

Allura snorted, “Let me help you clean up,” she said, pickup a rag.

“Oh, no,” He said, putting up his hands, “I woke you up, you should go back to resting.”

“It’s fine, Keiran,” She said, still getting used to saying the name, “Really.” Not quite believing her, but not wanting to argue the point, he picked up a second rag and went to help her. “How have you been holding up?”

Keiran gave a deep sigh, “Alright, all things considered. More…strange rather than bad or good.” 

“Oh?” She asked, scrubbing a particularly difficult stain. 

“It’s just…I have all these memories…two lifetime’s worth…but I feel as though I’m still getting to know myself.”

She nodded, listening, “And…what have you learned?”

He cocked his head to the side. “Well,” He said, “I’m apparently an early riser. I think that’s a trait I’ve picked up from Coran. I only managed to get to sleep when I had a knife under my pillow. Two guesses as to where I got that trait from.”

Allura giggled. “Keith does have some interesting hobbies. Had?” She sighed.

“Yeah,” Keiran said, “I’m having difficulty with tenses as well. Not to mention pronouns. Coran and Keith both used ‘he’ thank sweet melnier, but when talking about memories I’m not sure if I should use ‘I’ ‘We’ or ‘He.’”

Allura hummed in sympathy. “Wait a moment…who’s quarters did you sleep in last night?’

Keiran looked awkward, “I took one of the free rooms. Either of their’s felt like I was invading someone’s space…not to mention…”

He trailed off. “Not to mention…what?” Allura asked. 

“Well, its just…Keith’s quarters are next to Lance’s.” He focused very heavily on not looking at her as he said it. 

“Ah,” She said, “Yes, he is taking this…rather hard…”

Keiran looked up at her out of the corner of his eye, and raised an eyebrow, “You shouldn’t do that,” He said.

“Do what?”

“Act as though you’re not hurting when you are,” He said, “I know you believe it is your duty as Princess to put others needs before yourself, but you’re allowed to be selfish every now and then.”

She gaped at him, “It’s always weird when you…I don’t know, you sounded just like Coran there for a moment.”

He gave her a half smile. “Don’t think Keith hasn’t noticed either. And I’d bet the other paladins have too,” he put a hand on her shoulder, “You’re too hard on yourself. You’ve lost far more than anyone should ever lose, and at a young age. And now…the details are complicated and strange, but you’ve lost someone else too, someone who you consider family,” he gives her a comforting squeeze, “I know he’d miss you too.”

A tear fell out of Allura’s eyes she hardly knew had formed. “I um…” She sniffs, “I suppose…it’s been somewhat difficult…” She swallows, “I’ve been trying not to give it much thought. That they’re really gone. Mostly Coran, I…I know the others are missing Keith, but Coran…”

“He was family,” Keiran finishes for her. She let out a sob, covering her face with her hands. Keiran opened his arms, suggesting a hug, and she ran into his arms.

“It’s alright,” he said, holding her, “let it all out, it’s okay.” 

She sobbed into his shirt and held him tightly. He was shorter than Coran, but still taller than her. If she closed her eyes and didn’t listen too closely to his voice, she could pretend it WAS Coran. “I have a suggestion,” Keiran said, “Well…more of a request, really.”

She sniffled, “I’m listening.”

“I…I know you don’t know me very well yet,” He said, “I don’t particularly know myself yet. But I was…rather hoping that we might…that I could serve for your family.” He swallowed, and she was silent, “Eventually, of course. I just…I could never replace Coran, I know that, but I still care for you just as much as he did.”

She bit her lip. “I…I would like to get to know you better first…as your own person, I mean.” She swallowed, “But…I am not opposed.”

He squeezed just a bit tighter, “Thank you.” He swallowed, looking down at the mess on the counter, “I think the breakfast is starting to fuse to the table.”

She laughed and separated from him, picking up a rag again, “Then we’d better work quickly.”

 

Lance was still upset when they met for their morning meeting, but silent. Hunk sat beside him, barring him from the others. Keiran sat next to Pidge on the other side of the room. Pidge seemed to have the easiest time adjusting so far. Keiran wasn’t sure why that was, but gravitated to them because of it. “I’ve found a chain of prisons in this sector,” Pidge said, “this entire system is rich in calcinite, which the Galra seem to use instead of Altean energy and scaltrite, not to mention other resources, and SOMEthing in the center. The mines are in a series, the outer rim blocking those closer to the sun. It’s impossible to tell what they have on the planet closest to the sun” 

Pidge brought up a schematic of the solar system. “The most obvious solution is we take them down one at a time. Of course, that then brings up the problem of when the Galra inevitably call in reinforcements.” 

Shiro stared, “The obvious solution is to bring on our own allies. We’ve certainly made some good friends over our time.” He looked to Allura.

“True…” Keiran said, analyzing it, “However, I don’t think we should expel our resources if we don’t have to. What if…” He pulled on the schematic to bring the security grid closer, “we used their own security system against them. We can infiltrate the outer rim, then cut off communications.”

“We’ll run into problems if any of their ships get away,” Lance piped up. Keiran met his eyes for a brief moment before looking away. 

“Hmm…” Allura paced around the schematic, “perhaps we can combine these plans. Create a sort of net of allied ships to intercept any strays that might try and escape…” She sighs, “If they are willing, we can then have the miners take possession of their planet once again. Hopefully they’ll be able to help us.” 

“Unless they’re Vidigons, right?” Lance said bitterly.

Keiran turned to the floor, feeling shame even though he wasn’t to blame. Hunk cleared his throat, “There is that possibility. These mines may be set up for thousands of years. Its probable that they’ve trafficked in prisoners to work the mines, and they might want to return home.”

Allura sighed, “We’ll figure out that part when we get to it.”

“If we’re freeing all of these planets in a row, its going to take longer than our typical rescue,” Shiro said, considering the schematic, “We’re going to need a thorough plan going into this.”

Pidge took a deep breath, “I’ll get to analyzing some of their systems, see if I can’t come up with an infiltration plan.”

“I’ll help,” Shiro said.

“I can too,” Keiran said, “Coran once went undercover hiding out a full week when he was working for a stealth unit. I think that experience will work.”

Allura nodded, “Alright. We should all be familiar with the schematics for whatever plan we come up with. In the meantime, training session. This will definitely require some pretty heavy coordination, I want to work on getting used to the new dynamic with Keiran to be as solid as it was with Keith.”

If any of the paladins felt awkward about that, they didn’t say anything, just nodded and went to suit up. 

Training was…okay. It wasn’t horrible, just a reasonable amount of shakiness with everyone, but it wasn’t exactly exceptional either. Keiran was far more hesitant than Keith, but still had the ruthlessness and basic skills. It was just hard to get used to not having Keith take the charge at the beginning of the fight. Shiro stepped into the role and handled it well. 

The maze exercises were simple. Even if they didn’t know Keiran as well, all of the paladins trusted him, and he trusted them. Even Lance didn’t question Keiran’s orders, simply stepped through the maze like he always had, though sans his usual banter.

The only real problem came when doing mind exercises. There was a short moment of panic when the memory Keiran brought up was that of Keith and Lance, drifting in space and holding onto one another…the moment Keith first told Lance he loved him…

Lance inhaled sharply, tensing up, and all the paladins felt his anger, his loss, his sorrow echoing through the link. Keiran quickly changed the memory to that of himself that morning cooking. “Sorry…” he muttered quietly. No one responded and the moment passed. 

Once they completed that assignment, Shiro decided that would be enough for the day. 

 

“Take a look at this,” Keiran said to Pidge and Shiro, “This moon here, orbiting the outermost planet. It’s got some pretty deep caverns that can’t be seen by the sensor grid. It could be a useful starting place if we were to wormhole a few lions in there.”

Pidge hummed, “It’s possible. I still want to figure out some way to eliminate that sensor grid, though. Or at least punch a hole in it.” 

Shiro stroked his chin, considering, “Is there a way to block the signal from going out past the sensor grid.” 

“Hmm. Maybe…” Pidge said, “I’d like to actually get my hands on a unit. That would help me figure out what I can do with it. 

“Maybe that’s where we can start, then,” Keiran said, “A mini-heist to grab one of the sensor units, before we go all in on the full heist.”

Pidge nodded, “That could work,” They yawned, blinking their eyes open. 

“You DID stay up all night, didn’t you?” Shiro said. He and Keiran had been suspicious when they decided to break for the night and Pidge had promised to stay up ‘just a few more minutes’ and yet was the first to be up and about the next morning.

“Stop being paranoid, Shiro,” They said, rubbing the heel of their palm into their eye. “M’fine.”

“Nu-uh, I’m not having you fall asleep standing up. Again.” Shiro ushered them out of the chair. “Bed. Now.”

Pidge grumbled, but allowed themselves to be pushed towards their room. Keiran snorted at them as they left. “Don’t you start,” Shiro turned on him, “Coran might be an early riser, but Keith’s a night owl, and don’t think I didn’t hear you pacing in the middle of the night.” 

“If you heard me pacing, doesn’t that mean that you were also up?” Keiran smirked at him.

Shiro opened his mouth to retort, but closed it again in frustration. “Alright. We’ll call it a draw. For now.” Keiran chuckled. “But you really do need to get more sleep.” 

“So do you,” Keiran countered, and Shiro sighed in defeat. Keiran swallowed, “Is there…I mean, is there something in particular that’s got you…Is there anything I can do to help?”

Shiro sighed, “It’s not your fault, Keiran,” he said, “I’m not Lance and I’m not Allura. Of course I miss Keith, and…and admittedly it hasn’t really hit yet. But I do better when I have a goal in front of me, rather than dwelling on something.”

Keiran nods. “When it hits,” he said, “I could…I don’t know…try and help?” He swallowed awkwardly, “Or I could keep my distance…if you needed.”

“Like you’re doing with Lance?” Shiro asked. 

Keiran sighed and took a sit. “That IS my fault, I think…” He looked down at the table, “I…accidentally…may have made a move on him...” 

“Did you kiss him?” 

“No!” Keiran shouted, a touch too loudly. “No…I just…held his face a bit.” Keiran lifted his feet to the chair and hugged them to his chest. “Keith…really loved him, so I…I just wasn’t thinking. Is that creepy?” He asked Shiro, “I mean, Coran loved Lance too, just very differently.” 

Shiro tapped his finger on the table, thinking. “Well…I mean it makes sense.”

“I’ve been trying to figure out how old I am…” Keiran said. “I mean, Keith was 18. Coran was 612…And I have both of their memories, both of their levels of experience.”

Shiro’s eyes went wide, “So…you’d be about…630…”

“Mmm,” Keiran said, “Except you have to factor in that Altea orbited closer to its sun than Earth did, and our years are shorter. The conversion is…tricky due to space/time issues. And THEN its trickier still, as Alteans, Humans, and Galrans all have different maturation rates. And I’m a hodge podge of all three.”

“Yikes,” Shiro said, “That is confusing.”

Keiran sighed, “I’ve determined I am at least…1 quintent old.” 

Shiro snorted, “Well, its good to have a starting place. And Lance will come around, they—we all will. Just give us some time.” 

Keiran nodded. “Alright.”

 

Through a plan involving the green lion, a spare pod, R2 and about 2 dozen batches of Hunk’s cookies (don’t ask), Pidge managed to get their hands on one of the sensor probes, and they had a plan. “So, essentially, what we’re going to do,” they said, “Is use this program that will affect the gravity of the sensor probes as they orbit the sun. They’ll move inwards, until the outermost planet is outside their range. We put up a damper around the mine so they can’t send out any alarms or anything. Then we take ‘em down, and boom, step one complete. Once we’ve got that settled we can work on continuing the plan to move inwards.”

They all smiled at Pidge, who was going a bit bug-eyed after staring at the schematics for so long. “Sounds like and excellent plan, Pidge.” Allura said, smiling. The rest of the paladins nodded, “When do we get started?”

“Right now, if you want.” 

They all nodded and went to their lions.

Of course, it was only after they had formed Voltron, incited a riot within the mine and conquered the Galra ships that they remembered…what do they do with the Galra they’ve conquered? “Usually we just turn them on their tail and force them to retreat,” Hunk said. 

“We can’t do that, this time!” Keiran said, “If they retreat they could come back with reinforcements to retake the mines while we’re freeing the rest in the system.” 

“We’ll put them in prisons for now,” Shiro said, “We’ve gotten through the easy parts, at least. Once we determine some form of government system within the mine, we can work with the locals, have them keep the prisoners for now, and then we can release them later.”

It turned out trying to form a government out of a planetful of people who’d just been enslaved was difficult. Usually with these sort of diplomatic issues, Allura, Shiro, and Coran would take point. In place of Coran, Keiran stepped up, allowing Pidge, Lance, and Hunk to rest. 

It was a few quintents later, when things seemed more settled, that Keiran began to grow wary. “What’s wrong?” Allura asked, her eyes dark from lack of sleep. 

“Something about all of this…just seems too easy.”

“This is easy?” Shiro asked, also exhausted. “Tedious, perhaps, but not easy.”

“Hmm,” Keiran said, unable to articulate his emotions, “It just…it feels like I’m waiting for the other Urlto to charge in…” Shiro raised an eyebrow, confused, “The other shoe to drop,” Keiran translated himself. 

“Well, it never hurts to be prepared,” Shiro said, “But everything seems okay right now.”

“That’s the problem,” Keiran said, “Everything’s difficult…challenging…but alright overall.”

“Apparently we can add ‘paranoid’ to your character traits, Keiran,” Allura said, smiling. Keiran rolled his eyes. 

 

Keiran decided to relieve some of his frustration in the training room. It always worked for Keith, to help get the thoughts out. Of course, what Keiran realized now was that Coran had Keith beat when it came to hiding his true emotions. 

Coran’s trick had been he covered his emotions with other emotions. None were fake, just…presented how he wanted the kids to see him. They were all young, still figuring themselves out much as Keiran was now. They had seen horrible things, things kids were not meant to see…but Coran had seen more. And now Keiran had seen them too. 

He sighed, “End training sequence,” He said, and the gladiator went away. 

He cricked his neck, making his way to the changing room. 

He stared at himself in the mirror, noting the different features. Keith’s eye folds. Coran’s hair part. A sum of parts all mushed together. He wondered how long it would take looking in that mirror before he saw a whole person. 

The benefit of being Altean, even half Altean, and Keith’s odd Galra shapechanging (they had never quite figured out how he was able to do it) was his shapeshifting. Staring into the mirror, he focused. The folds went away, and the black hair changed to orange. 

There, in the mirror, stood Coran. In red paladin armor, but it was Coran. Keiran bit his lip, staring at the image. It would be easy…well, just as easy as anything was, to stay like this. 

Or, there was the other option. He focused again, and now it was Keith standing in the mirror. He could be Keith. Shove down the parts of Coran that existed, kill him for real…

He shook his head, his image bouncing back to the amalgam, the sum of various parts. 

Of course there was also one other shape he could try. 

It wasn’t a shape Keith liked often, usually slipping into it by accident. But, technically speaking, he could, and so theoretically could Keiran. Keiran tensed his muscles. This shapechange felt different than the Altean one, he had never known that. He realized he had closed his eyes, and so opened them to see a Galran version of himself staring at him. 

He jumped as he heard laughter beside him. In the doorway, Lance was doubled up, howling with laughter, “You…” he tried to say, still laughing, “You’re a Galra…with a mustache…ahahahahhahaaaa”

Keiran looked back in the mirror at himself. It…was rather amusing, his mustache turned dark purple, but was definitely there. He let out a few chuckles himself, until the both of them were howling. 

“And I thought the mullet was bad,” Lance laughed.

“Hey!” Keiran protested, giving him a light-hearted slap. “I think the long hair gives me some dignity.” He smoothed it back, shifting back to a Human-Altean. Lance chuckled more, leaning up against the doorframe. “I don’t think I’ve heard you laugh since…well, since I’ve been around.”

Lance let out a few more hollow chuckles. “I don’t think I have,” he said. “I came here to…apologize to you. I haven’t been treating you fairly.” 

Keiran bit his lip, awkward, “It’s not your fault. You were in mourning, no one…no one expects you to bounce back from that right away.”

Lance swallows. “Not sure if I’m in the past tense for mourning yet. I…I’m still pretty…pretty not okay. I’m not ready to let go of Keith yet.” Tears sprang up in his eyes, and Keiran wanted to hug him, but held himself back. “I think its time I stopped blaming you, though.” He took a deep breath. “I know all of this isn’t your fault. You didn’t ask to be made, and…you’re trying your best. 

Keiran smiled. “Thank you,” He wasn’t sure what else to say, but he managed, “for understanding.”

Lance nodded. His eyes welled up with tears again. “Did um…” He swallowed, “Did Keith…as he was…being combined I suppose…did he think of me?”

Keiran paused for just a moment. “He always thought of you when he thought he was going to die. Even when he wasn’t that close, just in case. So that you’d be his last thought.” 

The tears dropped down Lance’s face. Keiran couldn’t help himself, moving forward to offer a hug. Lance took it, and Keiran held him close, stroking Lance’s hair like Keith used to. Lance clung to him, his tears dripping onto Keiran’s armor. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Keiran whispered, “I’m here. I’m right here for you.”

Keiran pulled away just slightly to wipe the tears from Lance’s eyes, to hold him and convey comfort and…

It took them both a moment to realize the intimate position they were in. Lance pulled back, wiping his own tears. Keiran felt his heart drop. “I’m sorry,” Lance said, sniffling as he pulled himself together. “I…you…this won’t work.”

“Not even someday?” Keiran asked, “Not—“

“No.” Lance said firmly. “Even…even if there weren’t countless issues with that…with you and me…” Lance shook his head, “I can’t.”

Keiran hung his head. “I understand.” He said, sadly, “I…can’t say I’m happy, but—“

“I can be friends, though,” Lance said, cutting him off.

Keiran nodded and held out his hand. “Friends.”

Lance shook it.

 

The other shoe didn’t drop until they were almost done saving the solar system. 

 

“Lance?” Keiran called, “Lance, come in!” 

Lance’s comm was eerily silent. 

“Pidge,” Shiro called, “Have you figured out what this facility is used for yet?”

“It’s some kind of laboratory,” they said, “I think they’re trying to make something with the calcinite.”

“Keep at it,” Shiro said, the black lion flew over where the green lion had landed, “Hunk you stay with Pidge and keep them covered, Keiran, you’re with me, we’re going to follow Lance’s last known location.”

“Take care, Paladins,” Allura called, “We don’t want to lose three of you all together.”

“I don’t plan on losing anyone, Princess,” Shiro responded. 

With that, the Black and Red lions took off down the pits on the innermost habitable planet that the Blue lion had fallen down. “Something in the rock here must be jamming our signal,” Shiro said, “I can’t send a message up back to the ship.”

“Well, at least we can send messages to each other,” Keiran said. 

“Maybe we should head back—“

“We’ll be fine, Shiro,” Keiran said, “We can go for just a little longer.”

The time passed in eerie silence. Their scanners blinked, but showed no readings.

Finally, static came through. “……gons—“

“Shiro, did you hear that?” Keiran asked, “It sounded an awful lot like Lance.”

Shiro messed with his controls, trying to clear the signal, “Lance? Lance come in.”

The static cleared a little, Lance’s voice louder, “…lion to…..found…gon scientists…prison…use some help…”

Keiran sped up a bit, “Lance? Repeat your message please.”

“Keiran?” Lance’s voice came through full of static, “Keiran is that you?”

“Lance?” Shiro said, “Are you alright,”

“Just caught in the crossfire with some Galra,” Lance said, “I’ve found where they were holding the prisoners. They’re scientists the Galra had working in the lab. Shiro,” His voice rose up in excitement, “They’re Vidigons! They’re the Vidigons from the abandoned facility!” 

“What?” Shiro asked astonished.

Keiran’s blood ran cold as he listened to Lance continue, “They were forced to abandon their lab because of their experiments, but while retreating they were picked up by the Galra and taken here. They have the records of their experiments, Shiro,” His voice was leaping in excitement, “Shiro they say they might be able to bring back Keith and Coran!”

Yup, Keiran’s blood was definitely cold. 

“Hold position, Lance,” Shiro said, “We’re coming to get you out of there.”

They found where the blue lion had landed, its particle barrier surrounding them. The cavern was just wide enough for the red lion to fit in, flanking the Galra soldiers. 

The Galra fled in terror, allowing Lance to guide the Vidigons through Red’s legs to his own lion. 

Keiran had the sudden urge to blast the Vidigons to pieces, but resisted the impulse. He felt a strong dislike of this turn of events, but couldn’t quite place why. It distracted him as they finished freeing the planet, all the way back to the ship.

There were about a dozen Vidigon scientists gathered in Lion Castle’s control room. Keiran sat off to the side, eyes flickering to each of them. Lance was practically bouncing off the walls, “We thank you for your rescue, Princess,” The head scientist, a Dr. Dankar, a woman with horrible scarring on her face and neck, “We would do anything to make it up to you.”

“Lance has explained to you our situation, yes?” Allura said, her own eyes hopeful. 

Dr. Dankar nodded, “Yes. We would need to examine the medical files and your technology to see if it was compatible, but we will help as much as we can,” She said.

Looking at Allura it’d seem like she was breathing for the first time, “That would be heavily appreciated, thank you. We need to focus on establishing this system to stave off Galra attacks, but afterwards, we’ll give you whatever resources you need.”

Keiran’s heart dropped into his stomach. 

“In the meantime,” Dr. Dankar said, “We can begin scanning the amalgamation. See what work we have set for us.” 

The eyes in the room turned to Keiran. 

“Princess…” He said, “Could we have a moment?” 

Allura blinked. “Doctor, your free to use some of our free quarters. Pidge…”

Pidge piped up, looking between the doctors and Keiran, “R2 here will guide you to them.” The tiny robot led them out of the room. 

Allura turned back to Keiran. “Keiran? What’s wrong?”

Keiran took a deep sigh. “I don’t want to be separated.” 

The other 5 stared at him, unsure of how to take that. “What?” Lance demanded of him, “What do you mean you don’t want to be separated?”

“Exactly what I said!” Keiran stood up, “I…I don’t want to get cut up or destroyed or whatever by Vidigons. I’ve done that, and it was terrifying the first time.”

“That was Keith,” Lance said, “Not you.”

“That’s my point!” Keiran said, “I’m…I’m not Keith. And I’m not Coran. I’m Keiran. And…and if they split me in two, I won’t be me anymore. I’ll die.”

“So you’ll just let them die?” Lance said, “I don’t care if you have their memories, you can’t convince me Keith OR Coran would want this.”

“No, but I do,” Keiran said, “I am my own person now, and I get a say in what happens to me.” 

“Not at the cost of others lives!” Lance said, “This is about more than you. You can’t just kill them!” 

“You act like I’m putting them up for execution,” Keiran said, “But don’t you see? They’re already dead! I—“

Keiran jumped out of the way as Lance swung his fist at him. He backed up to the wall, his hand on his thigh, ready to retrieve his bayard. “They’re not dead if they can be brought back!” Lance shouted.

“What happened to being my friend?” Keiran demanded, “What happened to ‘it wasn’t my fault!’” 

“It wasn’t, before,” Pidge said, looking at him cooly through their glasses. “Now you have a choice, and you are explicitly choosing to keep them dead.”

“Because it would cost me MY life,” Keiran said, “You cannot demand my own death from me.”

“As a Paladin,” Shiro said, “We’re all expected to give our lives to save others.”

“Besides,” Hunk said, “There are two of them, and one of you. You can’t sacrifice two lives for your own.”

Keiran swallowed, looking between each of the other paladins, “So, you all feel this way?” he said, his voice shaking, “This whole time I’ve been here has meant nothing? My life, to you, means NOTHING?”

“That’s not what we said,” Shiro said, calmly.

Keiran shook his head, sliding against the wall to the door, “No…no, it’s in the way you say it, though. All that ‘give it time’ nonsense was just garbage, just to keep me acting in my role until you managed to find a way to get rid of me!”

“You’re twisting our words!” Pidge said.

“Am I?” Keiran said, backing to the door. Shiro stepped forward, hand out to comfort him. Keiran drew his bayard and pointed it at him, “Stay away from me!”

“Keiran,” Hunk said, “Calm down.”

“When your only friends and family in the universe tell you they want you to die, I’d like to see how calm you are!” Keiran spat back at him. 

“It’s not that simple,” Pidge said.

Keiran wasn’t looking at them any more, directing his attention to the one person who was silent through the exchange. “Allura?” He said, his voice still shaking. She looked up at him, “You once said…said you could see me as family someday.” Keiran swallowed, “If that was even a little true…you can’t make me do this.” They held eye contact for a moment. “Please.” His voice was high and small and scared.

Allura looked down and away, unable to hold his gaze any longer. 

“No…” Keiran muttered to himself, “No!” He ran out the door and typed something into the control panel. The door slammed shut behind him, trapping them in. 

The Paladins converged on the door, banging on it when it would not open. “He’s used Coran’s codes to lock us in!” Pidge protested, using the control panel themselves to try and undo the damage.

“Can you hack through them?” Shiro asked.

“I’m trying!” Pidge said, “But he knows the ship better than anyone!”

“Stand back,” Lance said, summoning his own bayard and firing at the door.

It took a few shots before they burst through. Keiran was long gone, but they could guess where he was headed, running down to the hangar. 

They reached Red’s hangar, but found it empty, though they could all tell Red was agitated. “Where is he?” Hunk said.

They were all pulled to the same movement out the window, and watched, helplessly, as Keiran launched a pod and disappeared into the inky blackness of space.

 

“I can’t get a lock on him,” Pidge said, scanning the sector over and over again, the other 3 paladins and the Princess hovering over their shoulders.

“Didn’t you help build those?” Hunk asked.

“Yeah, with Coran’s help,” Pidge said, “Keith’s too, now that I think about it.” 

Shiro paced back and forth, “We have to make estimates, then. Keith would go straight, as fast and as far as he could if he wanted to get away, so we can try and follow his last known trajectory.”

“He’s not Keith, though,” Hunk said, “What would Coran do? Allura?”

Allura silently stared up at the star map, thinking.

“Maybe he was right,” Lance said, quietly. The others turned to him, “Maybe…maybe we have been thinking of him too much as an amalgamation of Keith and Coran rather than as his own person.” 

Pidge was the first to pipe up. “Even if he is, what about all you said about keeping Keith and Coran dead? Shiro was right, as paladins its’ our duty to give our lives—“

“As a last resort,” Lance said, “And even then, with limits. And even THEN we have to do it willingly.” He bit his lip, “I can only imagine being in his position…if you all asked this of me for whatever reason…”

“It’s a complicated scenario,” Shiro said, “And as much as he didn’t kill Keith and Coran, we’re not exactly taking a knife to his throat either.”

“Aren’t we?” Lance said, holding his arms in on himself.

Hunk looked down, thinking hard. “So, what do we do?” Hunk said, “Just…forget this all happened? Let Keith and Coran die?”

“I don’t know…” Lance said, gripping his arms tighter, “I just…I can’t argue that he doesn’t have points, and I feel…terrible, but…” He swallowed, eyes tearing up, “But I also really, really want Keith back. I just want him back, and I…God, I’d be willing to give up so much to get him back.”

Hunk propelled himself forward, holding onto Lance as he cried into Hunk’s shoulder.

Shiro turned to Allura who was still looking at the star map. “Princess?” He said, asking for her insight.

“I know where he is,” She said, quietly. 

The rest of the paladins turned to her as well, even Lance lifted his head. “Princess?”

“I’m going after him,” She said, heading down to the pods herself, “Work with the freed prisoners, keep trying to get the system stable.”

“What are you going to do if you find him?” Shiro asked, as she jumped into another pod.

Allura gave a deep sigh. “I don’t know.”

 

Keiran was sitting on top of his pod when she landed her ship beside him. “You were faster than I was expecting,” he said, as she emerged. 

“Coran told me about a thousand times about the week he spent hiding in enemy territory in a moon not unlike this one,” Allura said, climbing out and approaching slowly. “You could have run away. We probably wouldn’t have ever found you.”

Keiran smiled softly, looking up at the stars. “Where would I have gone? Everyone I care about is on that ship.”

Allura climbed to sit on the pod with him, trying not to scare him. He didn’t react, and so she pulled in her knees beside him. 

He took a deep sigh. “I’ve been trying to think…” He said, “How long would I have had to be a part of the crew before you all actually fought to keep me alive?” 

Allura sighed. “A few months, maybe. A few years. Once we had been given time to be accustomed to the fact Keith and Coran were really gone.” She took a deep breath. “It feels cold to say, but as much as we feel we know you, we don’t…we don’t really…”

“I know,” He said. “Perhaps I…perhaps I’ve been unfair.”

“No,” she said, “We’re unfair. Even if we needed time, you’ve had just enough to consider yourself a person. And…as your own person, you have a right to your own life.”

He absorbs her words, but doesn’t say anything at first. “I think it was at breakfast,” he said finally. She raised an eyebrow curiously, “The breakfast I tried to make. I think that’s when I started thinking of myself as Keiran.” 

She nodded, thinking back to the time. “I think there’s still some of the breakfast stuck to the counter.”

He chuckled, “Seems like I’ve made a mark in the universe after all.” They sat, chuckling for another moment, before the laughter died away, and they were left in the eerie silence of the moon once again. “I have to go back, don’t I?”

Allura swallowed, “My father used to say we always have a choice. Its just…”

“Just the consequences of that choice may be too terrible to bear,” Keiran finished. “I remember.” He sighed, “The others won’t accept me as Red Paladin anymore. They can try, but from now on, I’ll always be the one who kept Keith and Coran from them. And if they can’t accept me, we can’t form Voltron. If we can’t form Voltron, we can’t defend the universe.” He swallowed, “If there’s one thing I, Keith, and Coran agree on its that we have to defend the universe.”

Allura sighed, looking at him. “I’m sorry,” She whispered, “I’m so, so sorry.” She had much to be sorry for, but left it unsaid, as she could never encapsulate everything.

He nodded, hearing the unsaid words. “Can I just stay here a little longer?” He asked, “Just to be me for a little while?”

That was the first time he really sounded like someone who had only come into existence a few days ago, almost like a child. Allura nodded, wrapping her arms around him, “Yes,” She said, “Yes, we can stay as long as you want.”

He nodded, looking up at the stars like he could absorb the whole universe just by looking at it, force it to acknowledge him as a part of it. He held on tightly to Allura, as the universe stared back into him.

 

“Okay,” Dr. Dankar said, far too cheery and oblivious to the atmosphere surrounding them, “We have the healing pods all hooked up, they should mimic the effect of the amalgamation chamber nicely.” 

Keiran shook where he stood, staring at the 3 healing pods the Vidigons had hooked up together. Allura held his hand, but he refused to look at any of the others. Slowly, Keiran released her hand and stepped into the center pod.

Lance opened his mouth several times, but could never find words. Finally, he decided this was his last chance… “Thank you,” he said softly, “For everything.”

Keiran nodded as the pod shut, and he closed his eyes. 

Dr. Dankar flipped a switch, and a thick white gas filled up the pods. Keiran flinched violently as it touched his skin. He tensed up as the gas started obscuring him to his friends, every muscle pulled taut. The moment he was completely lost behind the gas, they heard a scream of pain. 

Allura flinched and latched onto Shiro’s arm, Lance grabbing onto Hunk’s. Pidge was the one who turned angrily to Dr. Dankar, “He’s in pain!” 

Dr. Dankar did not look impressed at them. “We’re reconstructing their entire genomes. There is, of course, some level of discomfort.”

The screams continued on…until they abruptly stopped, and the silence was almost worse. Dr. Dankar flicked another switch and the gas dissipated, the inside of the pods slowly coming into view. 

In the two outer pods stood Keith and Coran, fully formed and peaceful looking. The center pod was empty. 

Both pods opened and the two of them opened their eyes, dazed and confused. “Keith!” Lance cheered, running forward to hold on tightly. 

Keith smiled, holding him back, “Hey,” he said casually, but still kissed Lance on the cheek. Lance took the kiss and turned it into a kiss on the lips.

Allura, meanwhile, reached out to steady Coran. “It’s good to have you back,” she told him, tears creeping in the corner of her eyes. 

Coran’s face broke into a smile. “It’s good to be back,” He said, pulling her into a hug.

 

“I thought I’d find you here,” Coran said, walking into the kitchen. 

Keith looked up, staring at the counter that Keiran had practically destroyed. It was late at night, all the others having gone to bed. Lance had asked Keith to stay in his room for the night, and Keith agreed, saying he just wanted to grab a snack first. 

Except here he was, snack in hand, and instead of going back, he was staring at a stain. “I just wanted to confirm,” he said, “You know, that it was all real.”

Coran nodded, “I had the same impulse.” He sighed, “I have all of Keiran’s memories, but…the whole thing does seem odd.”

Keith smirked, “Everything’s odd in space.” Coran chuckled. “I feel like…we should do something…something for him. He gave his life for us.”

Coran hummed, contemplative. “Perhaps we could hold a funeral ceremony of some sort. Do you think he would like that?”

Keith bit his cheek. “Honestly? I don’t know.” They both sighed. “I do have one other thing from him, though,” Keith said. Coran raised an eyebrow at him. “I think I’m starting to grow a mustache.”

Coran chuckled, “You know, I did feel my own mustache was a tad smaller. I was going to get a little more nunvil.” Keith smiled, and like the spell was broken, was able to step away from the counter and walk down the hall alongside Coran. “If you ever want any care techniques, you can always come to me.”

Keith smirked, “Thanks, Coran, but I think I was just going to shave it off.”

Coran sighed. “If you must.” They reached the fork between their rooms and started to head in different directions. “Oh, but Keith,” Coran called, stopping him for a moment, “Next time, please ask whether a room is safe to enter BEFORE opening the door.”

Keith snorted, “I’ll keep it in mind.”

**Author's Note:**

> Right, so, if you're familiar with the episode, you'll notice: I changed the ending. I just...I couldn't make them force Keiran into the experiment, even though he felt like he didn't have a choice. I didn't want it to be brute force, though. It felt out of character for the crew, and it didn't....It just didn't work. 
> 
> But anyhow. At least this monster's done. 
> 
> As always, if you have a star trek ep you'd like me to parody let me know.
> 
> And also, please let me know what you think! My tumblr is dork-empress


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